Storms hit Poland’s Open’er festival as The xx close the event

Mumford & Sons and Friendly Fires also played the final night of the festival

The xx closed the final night of Poland’s Open’er festival last night (July 7), playing a midnight slot on the Main Stage of the storm-lashed event.

The trio, backed by a giant, glowing, suspended ‘X’, played a ninety-minute set, split fairly evenly between old favourites and material from their forthcoming second record, ‘Co-exist’. Within the set, the band showcased a reworked, slowed-down version of previous single ‘Crystallised’ as well as a cover of the Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX track ‘I’ll Take Care Of You’, whilst the likes of ‘VCR’, ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Heart Skipped A Beat’ were also performed.

Speaking about the new record last month, the band revealed that the tracks were “all love songs”, adding that the album title references “lost love – from exes or the person you’re with now”. ‘Co-exist’ will be released on September 10, while the band will return to the UK to play Bestival the weekend before (September 7).

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Mumford & Sons also played a celebratory set earlier in the day, drawing a massive crowd despite the weather becoming so bad that their outdoor slot was postponed by 15 minutes. Following a storm that saw thunder and lightning hit the festival for around an hour, the London quartet played a set that included a selection of new tracks from their as-yet-untitled forthcoming second album.

The slot was the first time the band had played in Poland and marked a return to action following singer Marcus Mumford’s recent hand injury, which forced the group to pull out of a number of festival dates last month. Scroll down to watch a video of Mumford & Sons performing ‘Little Lion Man’ at the festival.

Friendly Fires also drew a hefty crowd for their headline slot on the Tent Stage, playing without their usual carnival dancers but still whipping the crowd up with a mixture of tracks from their eponymous debut and 2011’s ‘Pala’. Speaking before the gig, frontman Ed Macfarlane was in high spirits, stating that the band “haven’t had a bad festival experience in years” before adding that “people know what to expect from a Friendly Fires set now and get into it from the get-go, whereas previously people used to just stand there and watch at the beginning”.

Janelle Monae, Bat For Lashes and SBTRKT also all played throughout the day across the festival, while The Mars Volta made a main stage appearance, coming on just before The XX’s headline set.

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